


Next Time Don't Shoot Yourself In The Foot

by Alara J Rogers (AlaraJRogers)



Category: Dark Matter (TV)
Genre: Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2017-09-09
Packaged: 2018-12-25 19:48:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12042999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlaraJRogers/pseuds/Alara%20J%20Rogers
Summary: Marcus has shot himself in the foot. Literally. Griffin's helping, and not taking "I don't need help" for an answer. Set somewhere around the middle of Season 2.





	Next Time Don't Shoot Yourself In The Foot

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Themisto](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Themisto/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Don't you dare drop me](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9462923) by [Themisto](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Themisto/pseuds/Themisto). 



> Sorry this is not technically one of the fandoms you requested, but Dark Matter! There are 12 million Garak/Bashir stories out there, enough that I've never felt comfortable writing that ship (I'm one of those weirdos who has a hard time writing in a really popular ship), but damn few in the Dark Matter fandom at all, and I'm really unfamiliar with most of the DC universe and too much of a Clark/Lex shipper to ship Batman/Superman, so this was really the only one that spoke to me. Hope you're not disappointed.
> 
> I've only seen up through the middle of Season 2, so assume this is happening around there, someplace. Also it's incredible to me how much you forget when you haven't seen a series in just a few months... the characters feel really clear to me, but I can't remember stupid stuff like what do they call their little ship that Griffin pilots, or what do they call their space guns. And I can't quite remember how they all manage the three names that practically everyone has. Like, for some reason I remember Three calling Two "Two" and not "Portia" but yet Six feels like Griffin. Does that make sense or am I totally contradicting the show? I really need to re-watch it and finish it.
> 
> I would never have imagined this pairing for myself but now that you got me thinking about it, I can see it... I'd have pegged One/Three for the hateship except for that inconvenient thing that happened to One in the first episode of season 2, and I really like Griffin and totally don't want to ship him with Five because I see an older brother/uncle kind of thing there, so yeah, it works. I couldn't make them actually go as far as genuine slash -- they really wanted to maintain plausible deniability -- but then, the picture does the same thing so I hoped you wouldn't mind.

"This is bullshit," Marcus complained, for about the fifth time. "I can _walk._ "

"I saw you trying," Griffin pointed out. "It wasn't working so well for you."

"Okay, so I'm going slow. But I'm not a _cripple._ I was shot in the goddamn _foot._ I can make my own way. You don't have to _carry_ me, like I'm, I'm some kind of—"

"Injured person? Because I'm pretty sure I'm carrying you like you're some kind of injured person." Griffin chuckled. "Believe me, if I was carrying you like a kid, I'd have some choice words for you about shooting yourself in the foot."

Marcus rolled his eyes. "Why don't you rub it in a little more? If that security guard hadn't hit my shoulder while I was lining up my shot—"

"Maybe if you'd been a little more alert—"

"Sorry that trying to _shoot a guy_ before he could shoot _you_ was important enough that I got distracted and the other guy got the drop on me. Trust me, it won't happen again."

"Well, since Ishida took his head off, I imagine not. Don't know of any technology that fixes decapitation."

"You can put me down. I can walk."

Griffin gave him a Look. "Do you have any idea how much a foot wound bleeds?"

"Naah, I have no idea why the bandage around my foot is that color. Or why it's dripping all over the place. I'm a complete dumbass who has no idea how gravity or blood circulation works."

"You say that like you're being sarcastic, but you're the guy who keeps trying to insist he can walk with a bleeding hole in his foot."

"Look, I'm slowing you down. I can't shoot from this position and you can't shoot if you're holding me, so if those guards catch up to us we're dead meat. And with my foot dripping blood all over the place, it's not like they don't have a trail to follow. If you put me down, I can shoot and so can you."

"That's nice, but judging from the color of your skin I'm more inclined to think that if I put you down you'll fall over."

"What's my skin got to do with it?"

"Well, you're pretty pasty at the best of times, Boone, but you usually aren't hospital-sheet white. See, all that blood dripping out the hole in your foot would normally be up in your face and in your brain. Looks like you've lost too much of it to be thinking completely straight. And if I put you down, the moment you put weight on that foot, the pressure will force even more blood out and you'll keel right over."

"No, I won't. I don't know where you get this idea that I'm some kinda, I don't even know, some kinda _fragile_ thing, but if I was as big a wuss as you think I am, I'd be dead. In case you forgot, I was taking care of myself in a hard universe while you were in some cushy police academy."

Griffin sighed. "I don't think you're a wuss, but I don't think you're an android either, and you'd need to be to handle walking around no problem with a big bleeding hole in your foot. You're a human being, Marcus. Human beings function a lot better with blood in their bodies and not all over the floor."

"Yeah, well." Marcus fell silent for a few minutes, unable to think of a good comeback to that.

Griffin was breathing hard; Marcus wasn't exactly light. "Why do you care?" Marcus said. "It's not like we're friends."

"We're shipmates. That's good enough for me."

"Didn't stop you from selling us out."

"No." Griffin winced. "But that was a mistake. I've admitted that. Several times."

"Tell it to One."

"Given how you treated him the last time you saw him, don't you think that's being a little hypocritical?"

"Hey, I never said he was my best pal either. He came aboard the Raza to try to kill me, and even before he knew that, he was a sanctimonious, holier-than-thou little shit. But he was a shipmate, and he _died_ because you sold us out."

"I know." Griffin frowned. "I thought he'd be safe. He and Five were the only innocent ones among us."

"And yet he's the only one who ended up dead."

"What do you want me to say? I can't undo it. I would if I could."

" _He_ was your pal," Marcus said. "Especially after you knew he wasn't Corso. 'Cause he was innocent, like Five. But I'm the worst of the worst, right? One thought I killed his wife. 'Cause I've got nothing better to do than pissant little solo _burglary_ jobs, and shooting innocent women while I'm doing them. And I bet you thought the same thing, didn't you?"

"You and every other member of the Raza's actual crew have committed enough actual crimes, I didn't need to have an opinion one way or another on whether you killed One's wife. But I'm not sure what you mean by 'he was my pal.' All of you were my friends, before I remembered that I was supposed to take you in. I respected One's desire to be something better than he thought he was. I respected your skills, and the fact that you had your own kind of integrity. I even respected how protective you were – it might have manifested as paranoia on more than one occasion, but I knew you wanted to keep everyone you trusted and saw as your comrade safe. Including me, when I deceived you all. You wanted to protect me because you never thought I was the traitor."

"Yes. Guess I'm a big idiot, huh?" Marcus sneered.

"I _was_ trained in infiltration," Griffin said mildly. "Don't beat yourself up over not catching me. And as far as why I'm carrying you... I told you all. I'm sorry. I regret what I did, every day. I don't believe in the Galactic Authority anymore and I don't believe anyone aboard the Raza is the same person they were when I was first sent in to capture you guys. I know you don't like me and you don't trust me, but the feeling's not mutual. I can't blame you for how you feel about me – I sold you out. I betrayed you. I thought I was doing the right thing, but I wasn't, and you suffered for it. And One died."

Marcus sighed. "One probably would've gotten himself killed as soon as he went back home and started looking into shit," he muttered. "Corso didn't off him because he was mad at having his identity stolen; he had that chance and he didn't kill him for that. Someone paid him to do it. Long as he was aboard the Raza, One was as safe as any of us, but come on, you and I both know he didn't belong here and sooner or later he was gonna go back to his old life. And then he was gonna get killed. That's... not really on you."

"I appreciate you saying so, but it's hard for me to accept it," Griffin said.

"Yeah, well. I'm not saying it to make you feel better," Marcus said, but didn't clarify why he _was_ saying it, then.

They continued down the corridor. Griffin was almost staggering, now. "Hey, you better not drop me," Marcus said.

"You could stand to lose some weight," Griffin panted, grinning. "Lay off the second helpings."

"Fuck you."

"Not a good time for it. Buy me dinner later and we'll see."

Marcus laughed, startled at the incongruity of a joke like that coming from Mr. Straight-Laced Griffin Jones (not that that was really his name either, but he'd gotten used to it.) "You're not as good-looking as Two."

"Neither are you, but I wouldn't hold that against you."

He felt cold, and sick. He'd been shot often enough in his life to know he was going into shock. The bandage on his foot was makeshift, not entirely adequate for the nature of the injury. Trying to distract himself from how awful he felt, and also trying to see if he could get another funny reaction out of Griffin, he said, "Well, then, what _would_ you hold against me?"

"You flirting with me, man?" Griffin asked, amused. 

"You're the one who's gettin' all hot and bothered carrying me around. I can hear the way you're breathing, you know."

"Yeah, well, you're the one sweating and getting all clammy just because I'm carrying you."

Marcus laughed again. "It'd freak the others the fuck out if we actually did."

"Mostly because people would've figured you for wanting to kill me, not kiss me."

"I can want both. I'm a complicated guy."

"I can tell you think you're hilarious."

"I am hilarious."

"Yeah, okay, you got me there. You're pretty funny."

"You're... funny, too." The corridor lights seemed noticeably dimmer, but Marcus was pretty sure it was his eyes, not the light. "Hey, listen."

"Yeah?"

"If... I don't make it."

"Shut up. You're gonna be fine. You just shot yourself in the foot."

"Don't tell the others. Tell them the guards did it."

"Ishida knows better."

"Oh, yeah."

"Anyway, I saw the guy hit your arm while you were setting up the shot. He might as well have been the one who shot you, right? It's the same thing."

"I'm glad... you don't hate me."

Griffin looked down at him. "You're getting a little loopy there, aren't you?"

"Yeah, maybe a little." 

They rounded a corner and found two of the security guards facing them, guns ready. "Halt! Now!" one of them screamed.

"Well, shit," Griffin said.

Marcus laughed breathlessly. "Told you you should have let me walk."

"Hands in the air! Get on the ground! Now!"

"What am I supposed to do, drop him?" Griffin asked. "I can't pull a weapon while I'm holding a man, and he's injured. I can't put my hands up without dropping him."

"DON'T FUCKING TALK BACK! HANDS IN THE AIR!"

They were going to get shot. Marcus quietly accepted this. He wasn't in any shape to fire back; he could pull his weapon, he had a hand free, but he couldn't see straight. He'd be lucky to hit the broad side of a battle cruiser, let alone a barn. Griffin's hands weren't free. And as soon as Griffin put him down and raised his hands they were probably both going to be killed. "Hey," he said. "Thanks for trying."

"Shut up, Boone." Griffin started to kneel, with difficulty, obviously trying to set him down carefully.

And then there was the sound of a blaster firing, and the two guards dropped. Two stood behind them, putting her gun away. 

"Well, you two look cozy," she said.

"You're a sight for sore eyes," Griffin said. "I was just about to put this heavy bastard down, and I had no idea how I was going to pick him up again."

"Love you too," Marcus said.

"What about Four? He was covering our escape."

"He's already back at the ship. He was surprised you guys hadn't made it back yet." She came forward. "I could take over carrying him if you need me to."

"Naah, I'm good," Griffin said. "Let's just get back to the ship."

"He doesn't hate me," Marcus said to Two. "I think I still hate him, though. But he's kinda hot. Don't you think so? Not as hot as you are, but that goes without saying."

"How much blood did he lose?" Two asked.

"Most of it, I think. He just started babbling like this a few minutes ago. He's definitely in shock."

"Yeah. Wow."

"Man, I wish I had a recorder. This would be great blackmail material."

"You'd just tell all the cops," Marcus said.

Griffin shook his head. "Not anymore. I'm not that guy anymore. And anyway, I'm pretty sure the GA doesn't care if you think I'm hot."

"We were never exclusive," Two said, "and we're not together anymore anyway, so hey, if you want him, go for it. Just wait until after he's had a blood transfusion."

"Pretty sure that after the blood transfusion he won't be interested anymore, but thanks for clarifying," Griffin said dryly.

"You think I'm drunk. But I'm not drunk. I'm in shock. I'm not saying stuff I don't mean, I'm saying stuff because I might end up dead in the next few minutes. I think I'm gonna pass out. Or something."

"I know you're not drunk," Griffin said.

"I've heard of a talkative drunk, but this is the first I've heard of a talkative bleeder," Two said.

"How come I still think of you as Two and One was One and Five is still Five but I think of Four as Ishida and Six is Griffin even though actually that's not even his real name?"

"Because Two is bigger than Three so you're acknowledging my dominance? I don't know, and you should save your strength. Stop talking. We're only a short distance from the ship."

"You just want me to stop talking because you don't want to listen to anything I have to say."

"You got it," Two said sardonically. "That's exactly it. Now shut up."

"Hey, I don't have to take orders from you. Except when I do."

"You don't happen to have a pillow I can put over his head, do you?"

Griffin shook his head. "Afraid we're out of luck, there."

That was the part where the gradually dimming world finally went completely dark.

* * *

When Marcus eventually woke up in the medical bay, Two wasn't there, but Griffin was, and he promised Marcus that he and Two had agreed they wouldn't share any of what he'd said after he got seriously shocky with any of the others... as long as he stopped being an asshole, in general.

Marcus laughed. He'd tried that blackmail stunt himself, on One, and it hadn't done One any good in the long run. "Yeah, right. I ain't ashamed of anything I said when I was close to half dead from blood loss."

Griffin raised an eyebrow. "You said that you meant everything you said, and you were saying it because you were scared you were going to die."

"I never said I was _scared_ I was going to die." He scowled.

"Okay. But you said I was hot and you tried flirting with me. You sure you want to admit you meant that?"

Marcus waggled his eyebrows. "And what if I did?"

"Well. It's not exactly how our relationship has gone, up to lately."

"What can I say? I'm a complicated guy." 

And then the Android announced over the comms that they hadn't ended up at the right coordinates after the jump, and Griffin had to go to the bridge to confer with the others, and Marcus would have as well except they had him on too many painkillers to walk, so that was the end of that.

For the moment, at least.


End file.
